The key facts

  • In 2025, 34,439 asylum applications were filed in Belgium, down from 39,615 in 2024 — a 13% decrease
  • Repeat applications from people already protected in another EU state fell by 45.5% — to 2,629
  • The leading countries of origin include Afghanistan, Palestine, Eritrea, the DR Congo and Turkey

Fewer asylum applications

Official figures from Belgium's Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons show a decline in requests for international protection: in 2025, 34,439 applications were filed, compared with 39,615 a year earlier — 13% fewer. The figures were released by the agency, as reported by the news agency Belga News Agency.

Who sought protection and how the composition of the flow changed

Among the leading countries of origin of applicants, the agency named Afghanistan, Palestine, Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Turkey. The sharpest decline was in the category of repeat applications: applications from people who had already been granted protection in another EU state fell by 45.5% — from 4,825 in 2024 to 2,629. The data cover the whole of 2025; the agency did not name the reasons for the decline in the published figures.